As a VH fan I researched the origin of this story. Results at the end of this article in it: https://snackstack.net/2023/07/03/in-search-of-van-halens-br...

Big believer in this tool. It brings pride and even further diligence to the conscientious reader. And in the case of the slacker, a silent knowing without shaming them, which rarely helps performance. Instead, you can manage the situation stealthily.

Somewhat relatedly, the WordPress.com terms and conditions contain an easter egg:

  If you’re reading this, [here’s a treat](https://wordpress.com/tos/treat/).

That's QA! if they didn't read about the Brown M&M's what makes you think they read about the pyrotechnics and fireworks? totally approve VH approach.

DLR tells the story at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_IxqdAgNJck

Eddie Van Halen is interesting to read about. It's tempting to dismiss him as a "hair metal guy", but he was actually frighteningly intelligent. Read up about his equipment experiments.